Theatrical Adaptation

#7 10-20-06

“How I Learned to Drive” is a play based entirely on an adaptation of a pedophile from a view that no one ever thinks about. When most people think of pedophiles, they think of sick, disgusting men who sit and wait for their prey to arrive so that they can do all things unimaginable to get what they need. Creepers, I’ll say. But the play addresses a pedophile from a different perspective, one that makes you want to run up and hug him and sympathize with him. Uncle Peck is really a kind, helpful, loving man who wants to do all he can to help his family; he loves Lil’ Bit, yes a little more than normal, but he never does a thing to intentionally hurt her. Now, don’t get me wrong, what he does is sick, it’s just that he lets her draw the line and doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want him to do. Although he has skewed her idea of what is appropriate for him to do, she still knows she can draw the line, but she still goes on with it and even initiates some of it too. It is still sickening to watch an old man molest a small child and that, from whatever way you look at it is still wrong, but you still gotta love Uncle Peck. He is truly a good man and a genuinely sweet one at that, which is what the play is trying to show us. Look at this good man, who due to something in his past has gone sour in some areas. You feel sorry for such a good man to be trapped in his mind where he thinks pedophilia is okay, you want to comfort him and let him know everything will be okay, you want to help him.

This play shows us the same story we have heard for years and years, that pedophilia is wrong, but it shows us from someone else’s view. A story is adapted to be told how someone else views the situation. It brings out a new opinion and side of the story; this one tells about something most people have never thought about. Honestly, until seeing this play, I have never sympathized with a pedophile, but now I have, even if it’s just a fictional one. The story brings about new ideas, while still maintaining the same morals—yes pedophilia is wrong, but have you ever looked at it from inside the pedophile’s head, do you know what they have gone though to be here and what they are truly like as a person? I really enjoyed the play because it brings out a different aspect of the story that isn’t usually perceived.

posted by Ann @ 12:06 PM